I’m the Chief Editor of Nature Chemical Biology. The journal’s editorial team is based in the Boston and San Francisco offices of Nature Publishing Group (NPG). We are delighted with the chemical biology community’s support of the journal since its launch in June 2005.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the April 2006 issue of Nature Chemical Biology, in which we shine a “Spotlight on Sulfur” and its important role in biology. For a good overview of the issue, read our April Editorial, but be sure to check out:

A Review Article by Eugene Mueller—“Trafficking in persulfides: delivering sulfur in biosynthetic pathways”, which is also featured on our special Chemistry Podcast.

A Commentary on iron-sulfur clusters by Marc Fontecave—“Iron-sulfur clusters: Ever expanding roles”

A News & Views article on thionucleoside biosynthesis by Charles Lauhon, a Brief Communication on heparin biosynthesis, and a few topical Research Highlights on sulfur-related work published in other journals.

The issue also includes several examples of how chemical biologists are using small molecules to understand biological systems and provide lead compounds for therapeutic targets. For example, in a Letter to Nature Chemical Biology Steven De Wall, Brian DeDecker and colleagues showed that inorganic complexes of Pt(II), Pd(II) and Au(III) disrupt the binding of antigenic peptides to the MHC complex of the immune system, which was recently highlighted in The Economist.

Also, be sure to take a look at papers on selective estrogen receptor agonists (Bologa et al.), marine natural products that inhibit translation initiation (Bordeleau, et al.), and RNA interference screens for probing drug action (Brummelkamp, et al.).

I am headed to the ACS meeting in Atlanta tomorrow. During the ACS meeting, stop by the NPG Booth (#414) and pick up a copy of the March and April issues of Nature Chemical Biology. Also, register your name in a drawing to win print copies of all issues in the first volume of Nature Chemical Biology (2005). I hope to see you all at sessions, the meeting halls, and at the NPG booth on Monday, March 27th from 15.00 to 16.00.

Enjoy the meeting!

Terry L. Sheppard (Chief Editor, Nature Chemical Biology)